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Walking in Slovenia and the Julian Alps

£11.00

Landscapes of SLOVENIA and the JULIAN ALPS:6 car tours • 75 long and short walks

by David and Sarah Robertson

Several new walks have been added in this 5th edition, which was checked on the ground a few months prior to publication. The maps have been redesigned with waypoints, and GPS tracks are now available for all the walks. The book is one of the first in our new wider format: no mapping is lost in the gutter.

Click below to read walker’s reviews and use the ‘Look Inside’ feature on Amazon.co.uk (RRP £13.99)

Or, purchase the complete book as a downloadable PDF using the Add to Basket button below (£11).

‘Small is beautiful’ certainly applies to Slovenia, which is only half the size of Switzerland. With a population of just two million, the landscape is still essentially rural. The jagged snow-capped peaks of the Julian Alps contrast with fertile valleys, full of colour and activity. Porous limestone rock has created the karst landscape; typical features can be seen everywhere and are exciting to explore — from underground rivers emerging as cascading waterfalls to narrow gorges, caves and rock arches. The mountain valleys are immaculate, with strips of vegetables and corn amidst the hayfields and orchards. There are hop-growing areas and beautiful vineyards. Amongst these industrious people one senses an orderly contentment and a feeling that everything is in tune with nature.

Tour Slovenia by car or on foot; the opportunities are endless. This book covers the whole country except for the very northeast and southeast; there is an emphasis on the Julian Alps, with a large-scale touring map. The best months for walking in Slovenia are May and June, September and October. For inspiration, visit the authors’ websites: www.slovenia-walking.com (further suggestions for walks, web links for tourist offices, travel and accommodation) and www.scot-image.com (extensive collection of images of Slovenia)

THE guide to Slovenia’s beauty. The book was easy to use, providing us with all the detail needed to plan where to go in Slovenia — from simple short walks/drives to more adventurous challenges along more strenuous routes. We had to decide on the trips that we would hope to complete as part of our 2 week holiday. We could not have chosen a better publication to guide us in those choices. The book was simply the best investment which we made in preparation for what was a memorable trip. (GTK, Amazon)

Amazingly accurate. This book was invaluable on our recent holiday to Slovenia. We only did the walks in the area we were staying but they were described in such detail that you couldn’t go wrong. (DEG, Amazon)

Area covered: all of Slovenia except for the very northeast and southeast; there is an emphasis on the Julian Alps, with a large-scale touring map

The best months for walking in Slovenia are May and June, September and October

IMPORTANT: Place names in Slovenia often contain characters with accents, which are not included in western European fonts. Accented characters such as these often appear incorrectly when viewed on the web and if used may be replaced by unrecognizable symbols when viewed on a different computer. Accented characters in the place names shown here have therefore been replaced by characters without accents. However, in the book, the appropriate font has been used to ensure that all place names appear with the correct accents.

IMPORTANT: Place names in Slovenia often contain characters with accents, which are not included in western European fonts. Accented characters such as these often appear incorrectly when viewed on the web and if used may be replaced by unrecognizable symbols when viewed on a different computer. Accented characters in the place names shown here have therefore been replaced by characters without accents. However, in the book, the appropriate font has been used to ensure that all place names appear with the correct accents.

Updates for walks and car tours (drives) in Slovenia given below supplement those provided in the guidebook. It is vital that this Update is read in conjunction with the text of the book, but note that the Update applies only to the edition stated and not to any earlier editions. (If you have an older edition of this book you can “upgrade” to the latest edition at half price.)

Information has been forwarded to us by users of the book, and Sunflower Books offers the data in good faith but cannot be held responsible for any misleading or inaccurate content in the Update. Unless indicated otherwise, what appears here has not been verified by the author or publisher, so please allow due caution when new or amended routes are suggested. Each piece of information is dated; bear in mind that some of the older observations may have since been overtaken by events or further changes. If, during your holiday, you are using the current edition of the guide and are able to provide any additional updating to add to this page, we will be pleased to hear from you. Please send information, preferably by e-mail, to info@sunflowerbooks.co.uk.

General: We have omitted to say in the ‘Walking’ section that David and Sarah are very fit walkers and that the time quoted for each walk is ‘neat’ walking time, with no allowance for picnicking, photographing flora and fauna, etc. It is important that you allow plenty of extra time for every walk. Perhaps start with a short easy walk, to see how your pace compares with theirs. (Sunflower, 9/13)

Walk 1: We attempted the path up to the view point on Osojnica. Part way up it became very steep and unnerving. We retraced our steps back to the road, turned left and took a track after just a few yards. This swings round to the left to a car park, but we continued straight ahead on a wide track. This climbs steadily uphill. After a while the path splits – take the left hand one to avoid a steep and rocky climb. Just as the paths merge again there is a signpost pointing uphill to Osojnica and downhill (apparently) to Ojstrica. Right by the post look for a narrow path on the right. This winds steeply up a rocky outcrop – it does involve a little scrambling, but in a couple of minutes you reach the top of Ojstrica complete with a seat. The view is fantastic. We suggest this is an acceptable alternative for those who don’t wish to climb up Osojnica. (User, 7/11)

Walk 8: After the 54 min charcoal burning area (being mended when we were there) the path goes into Spodnji Gorge. This is closed as the path has been washed away about 5 minutes beyond the footbridge. (User, 10/10) + At the 54min point the instructions say “Beyond here take the left-hand track, through pines.” There is also a track to the right of this, which goes uphill and is signed as route 6. There is now a sign indicating that the left-hand track is closed and the right-hand track is the one to use to reach Slap 1 and Slap 2. This is not a temporary sign, but a proper, purpose-made and very permanent looking sign. There is no indication of why the track is now closed but we decided it was best not to try and use it. Instead we went up the right-hand track. This turned out to be very steep and rocky in places and is not an easy way up. We eventually reached a sign pointing off to the left to Slap 1. We followed the track and reached a point where there was water coming down rocks and across the track just ahead. At the this point the track was actually cut into the rock. The wet rocks looked slippy and there was only a bit of rope to hold on to so we gave up and went back down. We could hear, but not see the falls, and presumably had we been willing to risk walking across the wet rocks we would have reached a view point but we can’t be certain. People should be aware that they may not be able to get up to the falls. (User, 7/11) + The updates page for this book shows quite some discussion of walk 8 already. The situation as we discovered it in July 2012 was as follows: The permanent sign at the 54min mark saying that the track up the gorge is closed is still there. We followed the sign for the right hand path up the very rough vehicle track. Later, we found a footpath signed for “walk 6” that joined the vehicle track most of the way to the top (this was the dotted line on the map in the book) that looked like it might have been a nicer option than slogging up the vehicle track. Access down to “Slap 1” is signed from the vehicle track. We followed this path down with more success than others have reported on the updates site. The section described as being lots of wet slippery rocks looks like a landslide and lots of work has been done on the track there. We were able to cross this without difficulty to reach a good view of the falls. Whether this is still impassable in wet weather I cannot say. We saw people coming up the “closed” track from the gorge so decided to have a quick look. Two of the river-level bridges have been washed away. A couple of planks on rocks currently provide a dry (albeit slightly exciting) crossing of the river, but I would imagine these will get washed away and presumably replaced by enterprising walkers on a regular basis. We completed the walk back down the gorge following the route as written in the book. (User, 7/12)

Walk: At the 42-min point, you correctly say you “climb steps away from the river”. This is actually a vertical climb for 15-20 minutes because there is no path close to the river. It needs to be stated that this is steep, and actually not “easy”, and that although it is a “riverside walk” you are on the right path even though you are now climbing vertically away from the river. After the 1hr 16 minute point, there is a dead suspension bridge. This was too soon to be the real one, but it did cause some concern, so the text needs to mention it, please. (User, 10/10)

Walk 13: We had a small problem after leaving the town. The walk is fine until the bypass is reached. The guide states “Take a wide gravel track to the left of the grass SPORTS GROUND and AIRFIELD soon passing a WEATHER STATION”. This path is not apparent, as a new access road has been constructed to the airfield. We found that by walking down the road past the weather station, we reached a new car park that was surrounded by a wire fence. However someone has trampled down the fence to gain access to the grass path that now appears on the left, and we followed this and continued the walk. I would also add that just before the river Soca (24min), where the guide states “…… continue on through the the wood and on to a road. Turn right, to cross a modern bridge”, this bridge is not immediately seen, as on exiting the wood and turning right one has to walk downhill and round a bend to the left, (approximately 300 yards) to see the bridge. Perhaps I am being a bit pedantic, but it did throw us at first, as we were expecting the bridge to be opposite the wood. (User, 8/13)

Walk 20: We completed this walk on a very hot day. We wished afterwards that we had done it in reverse, i.e. left the bus at Ukanc and caught it back from Ribcev Laz. By doing so we would have had the climb up to Slap Savica early in the walk when we were still fresh, and could have enjoyed a paddle in the lake at the end of the walk after a gentle stroll along the lake side. (User, 7/11)

Walk 23, Alternative: The route from Ribcev Laz to Brod is now tarmaced all the way. This makes for very easy walking but look out for bikes as it is a popular cycle route! Up on the high meadows above Brod we found that the signposting was somewhat ‘dodgy’ and didn’t seem to match the walk instructions. As a result when we descended we found ourselves in Cesnjica. (We think that at a junction of paths, by a seat, we should have gone left signposted to Rudnica.) By turning left on the road in Cesnjica, and left again on the edge of the village we managed to get back on the correct route. However the signpost to Srednja Vas was missing altogether although the path was quite obvious. (User, 7/11)

Walk 33: At about 30 mins you saw a klopotci. Alas, we fear it has gone as we searched everywhere along that stretch of open road for it. Maybe, like you and the Juniper tree, we simply missed it. (User, 10/10)

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